Frozen Hot Chocolate is an icy, blended twist on a classic- perfect for cooling off while still enjoying the flavor of traditional hot cocoa.
We all love the classic Drink of winter- a piping-hot mug of Hot Chocolate. I love it so much I’ve made a Slow Cooker, Peppermint and Mexican Chocolate version. Now you can enjoy those same flavors in the heat of summer!
Sabrina’s Frozen Hot Chocolate Recipe
This frozen version of traditional hot chocolate is sure to be a favorite drink recipe with your whole family. It only takes a few minutes to combine the ingredients and blend them with ice to make this delicious icy chocolate treat. It’s also easy to double or triple the recipe to serve more people – and trust me, if you make this for your next party, everyone is going to want one!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 cups ice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Whipped Cream
- shaved chocolate , for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
- Add to blender with ice and vanilla extract.
- Blend until smooth.
- Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
Enhance your chocolate flavor with a couple simple tricks. You can add just a pinch of salt to boost the chocolate flavor and balance the sweetness. You can also add ¼ teaspoon of espresso powder to deepen the chocolate taste without making it taste like coffee.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
The key difference between this blended drink and a creamy chocolate milkshake is the base ingredients. While you make milkshakes by combining ice cream and milk, this Frozen Hot Chocolate Recipe doesn’t use ice cream. Instead, you’ll blend ice cubes into the hot chocolate mix to make a frozen blended drink. Put on the lid and turn on the blender until smooth. I like to stop blending when there are still ice crystals, but no more large ice chunks in the frothy chocolate drink. If you feel the drink isn’t frothy enough, you can always add an extra handful of ice or even blend it in with a bit of heavy cream.
Ingredients
- Milk: You’ll need 2 cups of whole milk for the base ingredient in this recipe. Milk is the liquid ingredient that all the sugar and cocoa powder can blend into to make a creamy drink. You can use 2% or 1% milk if you want to make a slightly lighter version, but I really enjoy how rich the whole milk makes this drink taste.
- Cocoa powder: You’ll need 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to add the rich chocolate flavor. I like to use cocoa powder and add my own sugar instead of using a pre-made hot cocoa mix so I can control the sweetness and flavor.
- Powdered sugar: Using powdered sugar will dissolve easier in the cold milk than granulated sugar so you get an even sweetness throughout.
- Ice: The ice cubes change this recipe from regular hot chocolate to Frozen Hot Chocolate. You’ll want to blend in 5 cups of ice. That should create enough ice crystals throughout the drink to give it a slushy frozen consistency and stop it from melting too quickly after blending.
Can this be made ahead of time?
No, this is best and easiest to make and serve immediately because of the ice content. Left in the fridge, it will melt; if left in the freezer, it will become undrinkable.
Serving Ideas
Once you’ve finished blending, just pour the Frozen Hot Chocolate into glasses and enjoy. I topped my recipe off with homemade Whipped Cream and chocolate curls. But, you can have fun with different toppings. Try homemade Salted Caramel Sauce, marshmallow cream, candy cane pieces, sprinkles, or anything else you typically like on the hot version. If you’re enjoying this recipe as a family dessert, you can put out a few topping options on the table. That way, everyone can garnish and decorate their own drink.
How to Store
Serve: This drink is best served right after blending, and you shouldn’t leave it out at room temperature for more than an hour or so. The ice crystals may thaw slightly if you keep the drink in the fridge, so it’s best to enjoy it as soon as possible or make a fresh batch of Frozen Hot Chocolate.
Frequent Questions
The name of this delicious treat may cause some confusion at first. After all, how can something be frozen and hot? It’s called hot chocolate because it uses the same milk and cocoa powder mixture that you’d use to create traditional hot chocolate. But then you blend ice into it to make a frosty frozen drink with the same classic hot chocolate flavor.
This recipe for Frozen Hot Chocolate doesn’t include caffeine, so it’s a great family drink. But, if you want to skip coffee shop prices and still get a delicious caffeinated chocolate beverage, you can scroll down to the variations to see my cold brew version for this recipe.
Yes, this post helps you make a hot chocolate mix recipe from scratch, but if you want to skip that, you can use a packet of hot chocolate mix and blend it with milk. I’d still recommend this homemade version because it makes a richer, more chocolaty drink and only takes a few extra minutes to mix together.
Variations
- Double Chocolate: To give this delicious recipe a double chocolate flavor, you can make it with chocolate milk. Replace the regular whole milk in the recipe with your favorite chocolate milk for ultra-rich, super chocolaty Frozen Hot Chocolate.
- Vegan Frozen Hot Chocolate: Another hot chocolate variation you can try is making this recipe without dairy. There’s no dairy in cocoa powder, so the only ingredient you have to replace in the chocolate blend is the milk. You can make this with a non-dairy milk substitute like oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk. Then blend the ingredients as usual. You’ll also need to skip the whipped cream to make the recipe vegan-friendly.
- Mint Hot Chocolate: To make this drink with a mint and chocolate flavor, replace the vanilla extract with mint extract. Then finish the drink off with whipped cream and Andes mints. You could also make a holiday version using a teaspoon of peppermint extract and top the drink with candy cane pieces.
- Frozen Chocolate Coffee: To make this into an invigorating morning drink, you can add coffee to the blend. Either mix instant coffee with the milk until blended, or you can replace ¼ cup of the milk in the recipe with cold brew coffee.
- Boozy Version: If you want to make an adult version of this recipe, all you have to do is add a half cup of Bailey’s Irish Cream. Add according to taste, but be careful not to go too strong at first since you can always add more later.
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